In-vehicle configurable soft switches

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method may include receiving input to a vehicle-associated computing system (VACS) touch-sensitive display, requesting adjustment to a powered state of an accessory device connected to a switch module; providing, responsive to the input, a command from a vehicle computing system to the switch module, running on the VACS, to adjust a controlled output of the switch module; and updating the user interface to reflect a result of the command.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to vehicle infotainmentsystems, and more particularly, to systems and methods of providingconfigurable switching of in-vehicle devices.

BACKGROUND

U.S. Pat. No. 7,324,833 generally discloses an audio system and method.A system may include, for example, an electronic device having adisplay, a memory, an audio file player, and a housing component atleast partially defining a cavity in which the memory and the audio fileplayer are secured. In one embodiment, the electronic device may be aportable MP3 player. The system may also include a processor or playlistengine that can maintain a first playlist and a second playlist. Inpractice, the first playlist may include a selection of audio contenthaving a corresponding audio file saved in the memory of the electronicdevice. In one embodiment, the system may also include an automobilehaving an automobile sound system that has a speaker and an in dashsound system component, which may be removably coupled to the electronicdevice via a cable. The in dash sound system component may have aselector, which may be, for example, a button, that allows a user toselect the first playlist for outputting via the speaker. The cableinterconnecting the electronic device and the in dash sound systemcomponent may be capable of providing power to the electronic device inaddition to communicatively coupling the electronic device to theautomobile sound system.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,634,228 generally discloses a media managing method. Amethod links a graphical interface soft button with a media file savedin a memory system of a portable electronic device, maintains acollection of information that represents the graphical interface softbutton in the memory system, and communicates at least some of thecollection to a different electronic device in order to allow a user toview a representation of the graphical interface soft button on anassociated display of the different electronic device. The methodfurther receives a signal to begin playing the media file in response toa selection of the representation.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,346,312 generally discloses a vehicle-based computingapparatus including a computer processor in communication withpersistent and non-persistent memory. The apparatus also includes alocal wireless transceiver in communication with the computer processorand configured to communicate wirelessly with a wireless device locatedat the vehicle. The processor is operable to receive, through thewireless transceiver, a connection request sent from a nomadic wirelessdevice, the connection request including at least a name of anapplication seeking to communicate with the processor. The processor isfurther operable to receive at least one secondary communication fromthe nomadic device, once the connection request has been processed. Thesecondary communication is at least one of a speak alert command, adisplay text command, a create phrase command, and a prompt and listencommand.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,142 generally discloses an electronic system thatincludes a plurality of electronic components and a central controlunit. The electronic components and the central control unit areconnected to each other by a bus structure. The central control unitincludes a memory. The electric and functional parameters of eachelectronic component are stored in the memory. Functions may be selectedby the central control unit and according to the electric and functionalparameters of all of the electronic components. The selection may bedisplayed for the user by a central graphic interface. The electroniccomponents may be exclusively controlled by the central control unit.

SUMMARY

In a first illustrative embodiment, a computer-implemented methodincludes receiving input to a vehicle-associated computing system (VACS)touch-sensitive display, requesting adjustment to a powered state of anaccessory device connected to a switch module; providing, responsive tothe input, a command from a vehicle computing system to the switchmodule, running on the VACS, to adjust a controlled output of the switchmodule; and updating the display to reflect a result of the command.

In a second illustrative embodiment, a system includes a switch moduleconfigured to utilize an active low design to provide switched groundwire connections to a plurality of accessory devices; receive a commandfrom a vehicle-associated computing system requesting adjustment to apowered state of one of the plurality of accessory devices connected tothe switch module; and adjust the powered state of the one of theplurality of accessory devices responsive to the command.

In a third illustrative embodiment, a non-transitory computer readablemedium comprising instructions configured to cause at least onecontroller to receive input to a vehicle-associated computing system(VACS) touch-sensitive display, requesting adjustment to a powered stateof an accessory device connected to a switch module; provide, responsiveto the input, a command from a vehicle computing system to the switchmodule, running on the VACS, to adjust a controlled output of the switchmodule; and update the display to reflect a result of the command.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary block topology of a vehicle infotainment systemimplementing a user-interactive vehicle information display system;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block topology of an example system forintegrating one or more nomadic devices with an infotainment system;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram of a switch module providing powercontrol to accessory devices;

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary soft switch user interface for thecontrol of accessory devices;

FIG. 4B illustrates an alternate exemplary soft switch user interfacefor the control of accessory devices including status indications andconfigurable labels;

FIG. 4C illustrates an alternate exemplary soft switch user interfacefor the control of accessory devices from a nomadic device;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary process for connecting an accessorydevice to the switch module; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary process for controlling an accessorydevice using a switch module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to beunderstood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examplesand other embodiments can take various and alternative forms. Thefigures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggeratedor minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore,specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not tobe interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments. Asthose of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various featuresillustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures canbe combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures toproduce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described.The combinations of features illustrated provide representativeembodiments for typical applications. Various combinations andmodifications of the features consistent with the teachings of thisdisclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications orimplementations.

The embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide for aplurality of circuits or other electrical devices. All references to thecircuits and other electrical devices and the functionality provided byeach, are not intended to be limited to encompassing only what isillustrated and described herein. While particular labels may beassigned to the various circuits or other electrical devices disclosed,such labels are not intended to limit the scope of operation for thecircuits and the other electrical devices. Such circuits and otherelectrical devices may be combined with each other and/or separated inany manner based on the particular type of electrical implementationthat is desired. It is recognized that any circuit or other electricaldevice disclosed herein may include any number of microprocessors,integrated circuits, memory devices (e.g., FLASH, random access memory(RAM), read only memory (ROM), electrically programmable read onlymemory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory(EEPROM), or other suitable variants thereof) and software which co-actwith one another to perform operation(s) disclosed herein. In addition,any one or more of the electric devices may be configured to execute acomputer-program that is embodied in a non-transitory computer readablemedium that is programmed to perform any number of the functions asdisclosed.

A user may wish to add accessories to a vehicle that are powered by thevehicle electrical system. For example, the user may wish to addadditional ambient lighting or video playback devices to the vehiclecabin. Adding aftermarket accessories to a vehicle usually involvesmodifying the vehicle so that the user can turn the accessories on oroff. For example, if a user wishes to add accent lighting to thevehicle, the user may be required to drill a hole into the vehicle dashfor mounting a toggle switch to control the powered state of the accentlights. Or, the user may avoid adding the switch by allowing the wiresto the accessories to be manually wired in, but such an approach isunsightly and unsafe.

A vehicle system may include a switch module that switches power toaccessory devices under the control of a vehicle computing system. Theuser may wire an accessory device to a positive terminal of a vehiclepower source, and to an available controlled output ground of the switchmodule. The switch module may utilize an active low design, to provideswitched ground wire connections to accessory devices rather thanswitching the power line, allowing the switch module to complete thecircuit for the accessory device when a command is received to do so.

Once wired, the vehicle system may display a soft-switch user interfaceincluding a listing of switches or connected accessory devices. From theinterface, the system may receive input via the soft-switch userinterface requesting the system to power on or power off the accessorydevice from the indicated accessory devices. As one example, a user mayprovide input to a touch screen or voice input to a vehicle computingsystem. As another example, a user may provide the input to the vehiclecomputing system via a smartphone or other device in communication withthe vehicle computing system. The soft-switch user interface may furtherinclude indications of the power status of the accessory devices, suchas which devices are currently powered on and which devices are poweredoff.

Based on the received user input, the vehicle control system may beconfigured to send commands to the switch module to perform actions suchas: power an accessory device on, power an accessory device off, togglepower to a specified accessory device, power on all accessories, orpower off all accessories. In some cases, the switch module may beconfigured to perform two-way communication with the vehicle controlsystem. For example, a two-way switch module may be configured toprovide acknowledgement of sent commands, as well as result codesregarding success or failure of the requested commands. Theseacknowledgement or result codes may be utilized by the soft-switch userinterface to update the status in the user interface of which devicesare currently powered, as well as to report errors in the userinterface.

Thus, by using the switch module and soft-switch user interface, a usermay be able to wire up and power accessory devices, without makinghardware modifications to the vehicle to support switching power to theadded accessory devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example block topology for a vehicle basedcomputing system 1 (VCS) for a vehicle 31. An example of such avehicle-based computing system 1 is the SYNC system manufactured by THEFORD MOTOR COMPANY. A vehicle enabled with a vehicle-based computingsystem may contain a visual front end interface 4 located in thevehicle. The user may also be able to interact with the interface if itis provided, for example, with a touch sensitive screen. In anotherillustrative embodiment, the interaction occurs through, button presses,spoken dialog system with automatic speech recognition and speechsynthesis.

In the illustrative embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 1, a processor 3 controlsat least some portion of the operation of the vehicle-based computingsystem. Provided within the vehicle, the processor allows onboardprocessing of commands and routines. Further, the processor is connectedto both non-persistent 5 and persistent storage 7. In this illustrativeembodiment, the non-persistent storage is random access memory (RAM) andthe persistent storage is a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory. Ingeneral, persistent (non-transitory) memory can include all forms ofmemory that maintain data when a computer or other device is powereddown. These include, but are not limited to, HDDs, CDs, DVDs, magnetictapes, solid state drives, portable USB drives and any other suitableform of persistent memory.

The processor is also provided with a number of different inputsallowing the user to interface with the processor. In this illustrativeembodiment, a microphone 29, an auxiliary input 25 (for input 33), a USBinput 23, a GPS input 24, screen 4, which may be a touchscreen display,and a BLUETOOTH input 15 are all provided. An input selector 51 is alsoprovided, to allow a user to swap between various inputs. Input to boththe microphone and the auxiliary connector is converted from analog todigital by a converter 27 before being passed to the processor. Althoughnot shown, numerous of the vehicle components and auxiliary componentsin communication with the VCS may use a vehicle network (such as, butnot limited to, a CAN bus) to pass data to and from the VCS (orcomponents thereof).

Outputs to the system can include, but are not limited to, a visualdisplay 4 and a speaker 13 or stereo system output. The speaker isconnected to an amplifier 11 and receives its signal from the processor3 through a digital-to-analog converter 9. Output can also be made to aremote BLUETOOTH device such as PND 54 or a USB device such as vehiclenavigation device 60 along the bi-directional data streams shown at 19and 21 respectively.

In one illustrative embodiment, the system 1 uses the BLUETOOTHtransceiver 15 to communicate 17 with a user's nomadic device 53 (e.g.,cell phone, smart phone, PDA, or any other device having wireless remotenetwork connectivity). The nomadic device can then be used tocommunicate 59 with a network 61 outside the vehicle 31 through, forexample, communication 55 with a cellular tower 57. In some embodiments,tower 57 may be a WiFi access point.

Exemplary communication between the nomadic device and the BLUETOOTHtransceiver is represented by signal 14.

Pairing a nomadic device 53 and the BLUETOOTH transceiver 15 can beinstructed through a button 52 or similar input. Accordingly, the CPU isinstructed that the onboard BLUETOOTH transceiver will be paired with aBLUETOOTH transceiver in a nomadic device.

Data may be communicated between CPU 3 and network 61 utilizing, forexample, a data-plan, data over voice, or DTMF tones associated withnomadic device 53. Alternatively, it may be desirable to include anonboard modem 63 having antenna 18 in order to communicate 16 databetween CPU 3 and network 61 over the voice band. The nomadic device 53can then be used to communicate 59 with a network 61 outside the vehicle31 through, for example, communication 55 with a cellular tower 57. Insome embodiments, the modem 63 may establish communication 20 with thetower 57 for communicating with network 61. As a non-limiting example,modem 63 may be a USB cellular modem and communication 20 may becellular communication.

In one illustrative embodiment, the processor is provided with anoperating system including an API to communicate with modem applicationsoftware. The modem application software may access an embedded moduleor firmware on the BLUETOOTH transceiver to complete wirelesscommunication with a remote BLUETOOTH transceiver (such as that found ina nomadic device). Bluetooth is a subset of the IEEE 802 PAN (personalarea network) protocols. IEEE 802 LAN (local area network) protocolsinclude WiFi and have considerable cross-functionality with IEEE 802PAN. Both are suitable for wireless communication within a vehicle.Another communication means that can be used in this realm is free-spaceoptical communication (such as IrDA) and non-standardized consumer IRprotocols.

In another embodiment, nomadic device 53 includes a modem for voice bandor broadband data communication. In the data-over-voice embodiment, atechnique known as frequency division multiplexing may be implementedwhen the owner of the nomadic device can talk over the device while datais being transferred. At other times, when the owner is not using thedevice, the data transfer can use the whole bandwidth (300 Hz to 3.4 kHzin one example). While frequency division multiplexing may be common foranalog cellular communication between the vehicle and the internet, andis still used, it has been largely replaced by hybrids of Code DomainMultiple Access (CDMA), Time Domain Multiple Access (TDMA), Space-DomainMultiple Access (SDMA) for digital cellular communication. These are allITU IMT-2000 (3G) compliant standards and offer data rates up to 2 mbsfor stationary or walking users and 385 kbs for users in a movingvehicle. 3G standards are now being replaced by IMT-Advanced (4G) whichoffers 100 mbs for users in a vehicle and 1 gbs for stationary users. Ifthe user has a data-plan associated with the nomadic device, it ispossible that the data-plan allows for broad-band transmission and thesystem could use a much wider bandwidth (speeding up data transfer). Instill another embodiment, nomadic device 53 is replaced with a cellularcommunication device (not shown) that is installed to vehicle 31. In yetanother embodiment, the ND 53 may be a wireless local area network (LAN)device capable of communication over, for example (and withoutlimitation), an 802.11g network (i.e., WiFi) or a WiMax network.

In one embodiment, incoming data can be passed through the nomadicdevice via a data-over-voice or data-plan, through the onboard BLUETOOTHtransceiver and into the vehicle's internal processor 3. In the case ofcertain temporary data, for example, the data can be stored on the HDDor other storage media 7 until such time as the data is no longerneeded.

Additional sources that may interface with the vehicle include apersonal navigation device 54, having, for example, a USB connection 56and/or an antenna 58, a vehicle navigation device 60 having a USB 62 orother connection, an onboard GPS device 24, or remote navigation system(not shown) having connectivity to network 61. USB is one of a class ofserial networking protocols. IEEE 1394 (FireWire™ (Apple), i.LINK™(Sony), and Lynx™ (Texas Instruments)), EIA (Electronics IndustryAssociation) serial protocols, IEEE 1284 (Centronics Port), S/PDIF(Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format) and USB-IF (USB ImplementersForum) form the backbone of the device-device serial standards. Most ofthe protocols can be implemented for either electrical or opticalcommunication.

Further, the CPU could be in communication with a variety of otherauxiliary devices 65. These devices can be connected through a wireless67 or wired 69 connection. Auxiliary device 65 may include, but are notlimited to, personal media players, wireless health devices, portablecomputers, and the like.

Also, or alternatively, the CPU could be connected to a vehicle basedwireless router 73, using for example a WiFi (IEEE 803.11) 71transceiver. This could allow the CPU to connect to remote networks inrange of the local router 73.

In addition to having exemplary processes executed by a vehiclecomputing system located in a vehicle, in certain embodiments, theexemplary processes may be executed by a computing system incommunication with a vehicle computing system. Such a system mayinclude, but is not limited to, a wireless device (e.g., and withoutlimitation, a mobile phone) or a remote computing system (e.g., andwithout limitation, a server) connected through the wireless device.Collectively, such systems may be referred to as vehicle associatedcomputing systems (VACS). In certain embodiments particular componentsof the VACS may perform particular portions of a process depending onthe particular implementation of the system. By way of example and notlimitation, if a process has a step of sending or receiving informationwith a paired wireless device, then it is likely that the wirelessdevice is not performing the process, since the wireless device wouldnot “send and receive” information with itself. One of ordinary skill inthe art will understand when it is inappropriate to apply a particularVACS to a given solution. In all solutions, it is contemplated that atleast the vehicle computing system (VCS) located within the vehicleitself is capable of performing the exemplary processes.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block topology of a system for integrating one ormore connected devices with the vehicle based computing system 1 (VCS).To facilitate the integration, the CPU 3 may include a deviceintegration framework 101 configured to provide various services to theconnected devices. These services may include transport routing ofmessages between the connected devices and the CPU 3, globalnotification services to allow connected devices to provide alerts tothe user, application launch and management facilities to allow forunified access to applications executed by the CPU 3 and those executedby the connected devices, and point of interest location and managementservices for various possible vehicle 31 destinations.

As mentioned above, the CPU 3 of the VCS 1 may be configured tointerface with one or more nomadic devices 53 of various types. Thenomadic device 53 may further include a device integration clientcomponent 103 to allow the nomadic device 53 to take advantage of theservices provided by the device integration framework 101. Applicationsexecuted by the nomadic device 53 may accordingly utilize the deviceintegration client component 103 to interact with the CPU 3 via thedevice integration framework 101. As one example, a music playerapplication on the nomadic device 53 may interact with the CPU 3 toprovide streaming music through the speaker 13 or stereo system outputof the VCS 1. As another example, a navigation application on thenomadic device 53 may interact with the CPU 3 to provide turn-by-turndirections for display on the screen 4 of the VCS 1.

The multiport connector hub 102 may be used to interface between the CPU3 and additional types of connected devices other than the nomadicdevices 53. The multiport connector hub 102 may communicate with the CPU3 over various buses and protocols, such as via USB, and may furthercommunicate with the connected devices using various other connectionbuses and protocols, such as Serial Peripheral Interface Bus (SPI),Inter-integrated circuit (I2C), and/or Universal AsynchronousReceiver/Transmitter (UART). The multiport connector hub 102 may furtherperform communication protocol translation and interworking servicesbetween the protocols used by the connected devices and the protocolused between the multiport connector hub 102 and the CPU 3. Theconnected devices may include, as some non-limiting examples, a radardetector 104, a global position receiver device 106, and a storagedevice 108.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram of a switch module 302 providingpower control to accessory devices 304. The switch module 302 may beconnected to the VCS 1, e.g., via the hub 102 or via connection to theCPU 3 without use of the hub 102, e.g., via a USB connection. The switchmodule 302 may be configured to receive commands 306 from the VCS 1 tocause the switch module 302 to control power to the accessory devices304. In some cases, the switch module 302 may be configured to provideresponses 308 to the VCS 1 regarding the status of the commands 306processed by the switch module 302.

The accessory devices 304 may include various types of poweredaccessories, such as aftermarket lighting or video playback devicesadded to the vehicle 31 passenger compartment. To set up an accessorydevice 304 to be controlled, the user may wire the positive of theaccessory device 304 to the positive of a vehicle power source 310(e.g., a 12 Volt battery of the vehicle 31), and the negative to anavailable controlled output 312 of the switch module 302. The switchmodule 302 may accordingly utilize an active low design, to exposeswitched ground wire connections to the accessory devices 304 ratherthan switching the power line. As illustrated, the switch module 302includes three controlled outputs 312-A, 312-B, and 312-C, withaccessory device 304-A wired to controlled output 312-A, and accessorydevice 304-B wired to controlled output 312-B. However, it should benoted that the switch module 302 may have more or fewer controlledoutputs 312, and that more or fewer accessory devices 304 may be wiredto the switch module 302.

Once wired to the power source 310 and switch module 302, the switchmodule 302 may be able to complete the circuit from the accessory device304 to ground when a command 306 is received to do so. As one exemplaryimplementation, the switch module 302 may include a controller 314 witha plurality of controller signal outputs 316, as well as a plurality ofpower control modules 318 connected to the controller signal outputs316. The controller 314 may include a microprocessor or other computingdevice configured to decode received commands 306, identify an operationto be performed and which accessory device(s) 304 for which theoperation is to be performed, and raise or reset signals to thecontroller signal outputs 316 of the controller 314.

Upon the controller 314 raising a signal to a controller signal output316 associated with the accessory device 304 to power, the power controlmodules 318 may to close the circuit to ground for a connected accessorydevice 304. The controller 314 may be implemented, as one possibility,as an Arduino single-board microcontroller or other controller board ordevice. The power control modules 318 may be implemented, for example,as a TIP 120 Darlington transistor, with the base connected to aswitched output of the Arduino board through a 2.2 K Ohm resistor, theemitter connected to ground, and the collector connected to anassociated available controlled output 312. In other examples, the powercontrol modules 318 may be implemented using a relay, other type oftransistor or transistors, or another switching device capable ofcompleting the circuit to the accessory device 304 as commanded by thecontroller 314. In yet further examples, the controller 314 may becapable of supporting switching to the controlled outputs 312 directly,without requiring use of power control modules 318.

As one exemplary implementation, a command 306 may include informationsuch as a switch number value indicating the controlled output 312 to becontrolled by the command 306, and a switch action value indicating theaction to be performed for the indicated controlled outputs 312 (e.g., afirst value specifying to force power off independent of the currentpowered state, a second value specifying to force power on independentof the current powered state, a third value to toggle the currentpowered on/off state, etc.). Variations on the command 306 protocol arepossible. For example, the command 306 protocol may include switchactions values that power all controlled outputs 312 on or off, or thattoggle all controlled outputs 312. As another example, commands 306 mayinclude multiple switch number and switch action pairs to providemultiple commands 306 in a single command packet. For light control,dimming levels may also be requested in the command 306 as switchactions, which may be implemented by the controller 314 by performingpulse width modulation of the controlled outputs 312.

In some cases, the switch module 302 may be configured to provide aresponse 308 back to the sender of the command 306. The response 308 mayinclude various information, such as an acknowledgement indicating thatthe command 306 was successful, a current state of the controlled output312 as adjusted by the command 306 (e.g., useful for toggle commands306), an non-acknowledgement indicating that the command 306 wasunsuccessful, and a reason tag for unsuccessful commands 306 including areason that the command 306 was unsuccessful (e.g., invalid switchnumber, invalid switch action, unable to parse command 306 packet, noaccessory device 304 connected to the requested switch number, etc.). Inother cases, however, such as due to limitations in the featuressupported by the controller 314, the switch module 302 may not respondto commands 306 with a response 308, but may be configured to provideresponses 308 to requests regarding whether specific controlled outputs312 are powered on or off. In yet further cases, the switch module 302may not be configured to support two-way communication at all, andtherefore may not provide any responses 308 or notifications. Instead,to maintain state a user of the switch module 302 may maintain poweredon or off status for the controlled outputs 312 based on assumingsuccess of any sent commands 306.

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary soft switch user interface 400-A forthe control of accessory devices 304 using the switch module 302. Theuser interface 400-A may be presented, for example, on a screen 4 of theVCS 1 controlled by the CPU 3. As another example, the user interface400-A may be provided by a nomadic application 109 on a screen of anomadic device 53 connected to the VCS 1. As shown, the user interface400-A includes a plurality of switch control elements 402-A through402-H (collectively 402) and a label element 404 indicating that theuser interface 400-A provides for switched control of the accessorydevices 304. Each switch control element 402 may be configured tocontrol an associated one of the controlled outputs 312 of the switchmodule 302. As some examples, the switch control element 402-A labeled“Switch 1” may be configured to allow a user to toggle the powered stateof an accessory device 304-A connected to the controlled output 312-A ofthe switch module 302, and the switch control element 402-B labeled“Switch 2” may be configured to allow a user to toggle the powered stateof an accessory device 304-B connected to the controlled output 312-B ofthe switch module 302.

Upon selection of a switch control element 402, the VCS 1 may beconfigured to provide a command 306 to the switch module 302 to changethe powered state of an accessory device 304 associated with theselected element 402. For example, upon receiving indication of a usertouch to a switch control element 402 presented in the user interface400-A on a touch display 4, the CPU 3 may generate a command 306specifying the controlled output 312 associated with the selectedelement 402, and an action to change the state of the specifiedcontrolled output 312 (e.g., a toggle action, an off action if thecurrent state of the controlled output 312 is determined to be powered,an on action if the current state of the controlled output 312 isdetermined to be unpowered, etc.). The generated command 306 mayaccordingly be provided by the CPU 3 to the switch module 302 forprocessing and control of the specified controlled output 312. Thus, byusing the switch module 302 and user interface 400-A, a user may be ableto wire up and power accessory devices, without making hardwaremodifications to the vehicle 31 to support switching power to the addedaccessory devices 304.

The switch module 302 may process the command 306 as discussed abovewith respect to FIG. 3. In some examples, the switch module 302 mayprovide a response 308 back to the CPU 3. The CPU 3 may accordingly usethe response 308 to update maintained information regarding the currentstate of the controlled outputs 312. It should also be noted that inother cases, the CPU 3 may maintain a current state of the controlledoutputs 312 based on the sent commands 306, assuming success. Or, theCPU 3 may simply provide toggle commands 306, which may not require theCPU 3 to maintain the current status of the controlled outputs 312.

FIG. 4B illustrates an alternate soft switch exemplary user interface400-B for the control of accessory devices 304 including configurablelabels 406 and status indications 408. Each of the switch controlelements 402 of the user interface 400-B may be associated acorresponding configurable label 406 (i.e., rather than the predefinedtextual labels illustrated in the user interface 400-A), and statusindication 408 indicative of the currently powered status of the labeledaccessory device 304.

The configurable labels 406 may be customizable to allow the switchcontrol elements 402 of the user interface 400-B to be more descriptiveof the controlled accessory devices 304. For example, the user interface400-B may receive input from the user selecting an edit mode in whichthe configurable labels 406 are user editable. Based on the inputindicative of a desire to edit a selected configurable label 406, theuser interface 400-B in edit mode may present an editable control inwhich the current text for a selected configurable label 406 may bechanged or replaced. Moreover, in edit mode the user interface 400-B mayalso allow the user to reorder the switch control elements 402 to appearin an order other than connection order to the controlled outputs 312 ofthe switch module 302. The VCS 1 may accordingly maintain informationmapping the ordering of the switch control elements 402 to thecontrolled outputs 312 of the switch module 302 to aid in controllingthe correct connected accessory devices 304. Yet further, in edit modethe user interface 400-B may also allow the user to hide switch controlelements 402 for which no accessory devices 304 are connected (e.g., asillustrated only six switch control elements 402 are visible in the userinterface 400-B as compared to the eight that are visible in the userinterface 400-A). To ensure vehicle 31 safety, edit mode may be disabledwhen the vehicle 31 is in motion.

As another possibility, if the switch module 302 detects a change in theconnected accessory devices 304 (e.g., a change in load or otherelectrical properties indicative of an accessory device 304 now beingconnected to one of the controlled outputs 312 of the switch module 302that was previously open), the VCS 1 may receive detection of the changefrom the switch module 302, and may provide a message in the userinterface 400-B suggesting that the user enter label edit mode or mayprovide a prompt in the user interface 400-B requesting text to use asthe label for the newly connected accessory device 304.

The status indications 408 may illustrate the currently powered orunpowered status of the switch control element 402 with which it isassociated. As shown, the status indications 408 illustrate checkmarksto indicate powered accessory devices 304. For instance, the statusindication 408-A is checked to illustrate that the front mood lights arepowered, the status indication 408-B is checked to illustrate that therear mood lights are powered, and the status indication 408-D is checkedto illustrate that the driver footwell lights are powered. Moreover, thestatus indications 408 illustrate a lack of a checkmarks to indicateunpowered accessory devices 304. For instance, the status indication408-C is unchecked to illustrate that the cupholder lights are notpowered, the status indication 408-E is unchecked to illustrate that thepassenger footwell lights are not powered, and the status indication408-F is unchecked to illustrate that the headrest video displays arenot powered. Notably, these illustrated status indications 408 aremerely exemplary, and other visualizations may be used. As some otherpossibilities, lights may be shown as illuminated to indicate powereddevices and dark to indicate unpowered devices, or the word ON may beutilized to indicate powered devices and the word OFF to indicateunpowered devices.

FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary soft switch user interface 400-C forthe control of accessory devices 304 from a nomadic device 53. The userinterface 400-C may include controls for commanding a specifiedaccessory device 410, as well as controls for commanding all accessorydevices 412.

The controls for commanding a specified accessory device 410 may includean accessory device 304 dropdown control 414 for specifying an accessorydevice 304 to which to send a command 306, a command 306 dropdowncontrol 416 from which to select a command 306, and a perform commandcontrol 418 configured to command the switch module 302 provide theselected command 306 to the selected accessory device 304. The switchmodule 302 may be commanded by the nomadic device 53, for example, bythe nomadic device 53 sending a message to the CPU 3 to cause the CPU 3to create the command 306 to be send to the switch module 302.

The controls for commanding all accessory devices 412 may include atoggle all devices control 420 configured to command the switch module302 send a toggle command 306 to each of the connected accessory devices304, a turn all devices on control 422 configured to command the switchmodule 302 to send an on command 306 to each of the connected accessorydevices 304, and a turn all devices off control 422 configured tocommand the switch module 302 to send an off command 306 to each of theconnected accessory devices 304.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary process 500 for configuring an accessorydevice 304 connected to the switch module 302. The process 500 may beperformed, for example, by a CPU 3 of a VCS 1 of a vehicle 31 incommunication with a switch module 302 and, in some examples, with anomadic device 53. In other embodiments, the process 600 may beimplemented in other controllers, or distributed amongst multiplecontrollers.

At block 502, the VCS 1 identifies that an accessory device 304 has beenconnected to the switch module 302. As one possibility, the switchmodule 302 may detect a change in the connected accessory devices 304(e.g., a change in load or other electrical properties indicative of anaccessory device 304 now being connected to one of the controlledoutputs 312 of the switch module 302 that was previously open). Asanother possibility, a user interface 400 of the VCS 1 (e.g., presentedvia visual display 4, nomadic device 53, etc.) may receive an input froma user of the VCS 1 indicating that an accessory device 304 was wired toa controlled output 312 of the switch module 302, or indicating that theuser wishes to edit the information regarding the connected accessorydevices 304.

At block 504, the VCS 1 receives information regarding the connectedaccessory devices 304. For example, a user interface 400 of the VCS 1(e.g., presented via visual display 4, nomadic device 53, etc.) mayreceive input from a user of the VCS 1 indicating text for aconfigurable label 406 that may be used in the user interface 400 todescribe one of the connected accessory devices 304. The user interface400 may also allow the user to reorder the switch control elements 402to appear in an order other than connection order to the controlledoutputs 312 of the switch module 302. Yet further, the user interface400 may also allow the user to hide switch control elements 402 forwhich no accessory devices 304 are connected. To ensure vehicle 31safety, these edit mode functions may be disabled when the vehicle 31 isin motion. After block 504, the process 500 ends.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary process 600 for controlling an accessorydevice using a switch module 302. As with the process 500, the process600 may be performed, for example, by a CPU 3 of a VCS 1 of a vehicle 31in communication with a switch module 302 and, in some examples, with anomadic device 53. In other embodiments, the process 600 may beimplemented in other controllers, or distributed amongst multiplecontrollers.

At block 602, the VCS 1 presents a soft switch user interface 400. Thesoft switch user interface 400 may be provided, for example, responsiveto user input to the VCS 1 to invoke switch functionality of the VCS 1.The user interface 400 may be presented, for example, on a screen 4 ofthe VCS 1 controlled by the CPU 3. As another example, the userinterface 400 may be provided by a nomadic application 109 on a screenof a nomadic device 53 connected to the VCS 1. Exemplary user interfaces400 may include the user interfaces 400-A, 400-B and 400-C discussed indetail above.

At block 604, the VCS 1 receives user interface input via the softswitch user interface 400. For example, a user may select a switchcontrol element 402 from the user interface 400-A or user interface400-B to request the VCS 1 to adjust the powered state of an accessorydevice 304 associated with the selected switch control element 402. Asanother example, the user may select an accessory device 304 and command306 using controls for commanding a specified accessory device 410 of auser interface 400-C, or may select a command 306 to be provided to allaccessory devices 304 using a controls for commanding all accessorydevices 412 of the user interface 400-C.

At block 606, the VCS 1 identifies a controlled output 312 of the switchmodule 302 associated with the accessory device 304 to control, and theaction to be performed. As an example, the CPU 3 may determine whichcontrolled output 312 of the switch module 302 is associated with theselected switch control element 402 of the user interface 400-A bydetermining which numbered selected switch control element 402 wasselected. As another example, the CPU 3 may look up which controlledoutput 312 of the switch module 302 is associated with the selectedswitch control element 402 of the user interface 400-B, e.g., accordingto maintained information about the mapping of the ordering of theswitch control element 402 to the controlled outputs 312 of the switchmodule 302. As a further example, a nomadic device 53 displaying theuser interface 400-C may identify the appropriate controlled outputs 312based on the selection from the dropdown control 414 specifying anaccessory device 304 (and the maintained information about the mappingof the ordering). As yet a further example, if one of the commands 306to be provided to all accessory devices 304 is invoked, then the command306 may accordingly implicate all connected accessory devices 304.

At block 608, the VCS 1 provides a command 306 to the switch module 302.For example, the VCS 1 may be configured to generate a command 306 in acommand 306 protocol such as discussed above with respect to FIG. 3. Theswitch module 302 accordingly performs the provided command 306. Forexample, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 3, the switch module302 may receive the command 306 and may adjust the powered state of theconnected accessory devices 304 responsive to the command 306.

At block 610, the VCS 1 optionally receives a response 308 to the switchmodule 302. For example, the switch module 302 may optionally beconfigured to provide a response 308 to the VCS 1 regarding the statusof the command 306 received by the switch module 302. The response 308may include various information, such as an acknowledgement indicatingthat the command 306 was successful, a current state of the controlledoutput 312 as adjusted by the command 306 (e.g., useful for togglecommands 306), an non-acknowledgement indicating that the command 306was unsuccessful, and a reason tag for unsuccessful commands 306, suchas an indication of a reason that the command 306 was unsuccessful(e.g., invalid switch number, invalid switch action, unable to parsecommand 306 packet, no switch detected/connected to the requested switchnumber, etc.). In some cases, rather than receiving a response to thecommand 306, the VCS 1 may be configured to request a response 308 fromthe switch module 302 requesting the current powered status of thecontrolled output 312 being controlled by the command 306. In cases inwhich responses 308 are not received, such as for controllers 314 thatdo not support two-way communication, the VCS 1 may instead maintain thecurrent state of the controlled outputs 312 assuming success of thecommand 306.

At block 612, the VCS 1 updates the user interface 400. For example, theVCS 1 may update a status indication 408 in the user interface 400-B toindicate the toggled powered state of the selected accessory device 304switched according to the provided command 306. As another example, theVCS 1 may update a status indication 408 in the user interface 400-Bbased on whether or not a successful response 308 is received from theswitch module 302. As yet a further example, the VCS 1 may update astatus indication 408 in the user interface 400-B based on querying theswitch module 302 for a current powered status of the controlledoutput(s) 312 to which the accessory device(s) 304 targeted by thecommand 306 are connected. After block 612, the process 600 ends.

Referring again to FIGS. 5 and 6, the vehicle 31 and its componentsillustrated in FIGS. 1-4 are referenced throughout the discussion of theprocesses 500 and 600 to facilitate understanding of various aspects ofthe present disclosure. The processes 500 and 600 may be implementedthrough a computer algorithm, machine executable code, or softwareinstructions programmed into a suitable programmable logic device(s) ofthe vehicle, such as the vehicle control module, the hybrid controlmodule, another controller in communication with the vehicle computingsystem, or a combination thereof. Although the various steps shown inthe processes 500 and 600 appear to occur in a chronological sequence,at least some of the steps may occur in a different order, and somesteps may be performed concurrently or not at all.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims.The words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Aspreviously described, the features of various embodiments can becombined to form further embodiments of the invention that may not beexplicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments couldhave been described as providing advantages or being preferred overother embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one ormore desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the artrecognize that one or more features or characteristics can becompromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which dependon the specific application and implementation. These attributes caninclude, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cyclecost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability,weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. As such, embodimentsdescribed as less desirable than other embodiments or prior artimplementations with respect to one or more characteristics are notoutside the scope of the disclosure and can be desirable for particularapplications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving input to a vehicle-associated computing system (VACS)touch-sensitive display, requesting adjustment to a powered state of anaccessory device connected to a switch module; providing, responsive tothe input, a command from a vehicle computing system to the switchmodule, running on the VACS, to adjust a controlled output of the switchmodule; and updating the display to reflect a result of the command. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising updating a status indicationof the display associated with the accessory device to reflect thepowered state of the accessory device upon adjustment.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising updating the display based on a responsereceived from the switch module indicative of the result of the commandto the switch module to adjust the controlled output.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, the command specifying an action including one of to: power onthe accessory device, power off the accessory device, and toggle thepowered state of the accessory device.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising identifying the controlled output corresponding to theaccessory device according to maintained information mapping switchcontrol elements of the display to indications of controlled outputs ofthe switch module.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprisingreceiving input including at least one of: input indicating text for aconfigurable label to describing the accessory device, input indicatingthe mapping switch control elements of the display to indications ofcontrolled outputs of the switch module, and input indicating to hideswitch control elements for which no accessory devices are connected. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle-associated computing systemincludes at least one of a nomadic device connected to thevehicle-associated computing system and a display of a vehicle computingsystem.
 8. A system comprising: a switch module configured to: utilizean active low design to provide switched ground wire connections to aplurality of accessory devices; receive a command from avehicle-associated computing system requesting adjustment to a poweredstate of one of the plurality of accessory devices connected to theswitch module; and adjust the powered state of the one of the pluralityof accessory devices responsive to the command.
 9. The system of claim8, wherein the switch module is further configured to provide a responseto the vehicle computing system indicating a result of the command. 10.The system of claim 8, the command specifying an action including one ofto: power on the accessory device, power off the accessory device, andtoggle the powered state of the accessory device.
 11. The system ofclaim 8, the command specifying an action including one of to: power onall of the plurality of accessory devices, power off all of theplurality of accessory devices, and toggle the powered state of all ofthe plurality of accessory devices.
 12. The system of claim 8, theswitch module including a controller with a plurality of controllersignal outputs and a plurality of power control modules, such that eachof the plurality of power control modules is connected to one of thecontroller signal outputs and one of the plurality of accessory devicesto allow the controller to independently complete a ground connectionbetween each of the plurality of accessory devices and ground.
 13. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the vehicle-associated computing systemincludes a nomadic device in communication with a vehicle computingsystem, wherein the command is provided to the vehicle computing systemfrom the nomadic device.
 14. The system of claim 8, further comprising adisplay device of a vehicle-associated computing system configured to:receive input requesting adjustment to the powered state of theaccessory device connected to the switch module; and update the displayto reflect a result of the command.
 15. A non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising instructions configured to cause at least onecontroller to: receive input to a vehicle-associated computing system(VACS) touch-sensitive display, requesting adjustment to a powered stateof an accessory device connected to a switch module; provide, responsiveto the input, a command from a vehicle computing system to the switchmodule, running on the VACS, to adjust a controlled output of the switchmodule; and update the display to reflect a result of the command. 16.The computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising updating astatus indication of the display associated with the accessory device toreflect the powered state of the accessory device upon adjustment. 17.The computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising updatingthe display based on a response received from the switch moduleindicative of the result of the command to the switch module to adjustthe controlled output.
 18. The computer readable medium of claim 15, thecommand specifying an action including one of to: power on the accessorydevice, power off the accessory device, and toggle the powered state ofthe accessory device.
 19. The computer readable medium of claim 15,further comprising identifying the controlled output corresponding tothe accessory device according to maintained information mapping switchcontrol elements of the display to indications of controlled outputs ofthe switch module.
 20. The computer readable medium of claim 19, furthercomprising receiving input including at least one of: input indicatingtext for a configurable label to describing the accessory device, inputindicating the mapping switch control elements of the display toindications of controlled outputs of the switch module, and inputindicating to hide switch control elements for which no accessorydevices are connected.